


A Quiet Day in Spring

by hamstercheese7



Category: One Piece
Genre: Bad Flirting, Fluff, Gardens & Gardening, Gentle Kissing, Kissing, Lazy Afternoon, M/M, One Piece Admirals Week 2020, Reunions, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:20:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26568679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hamstercheese7/pseuds/hamstercheese7
Summary: Day 7: SoftA quiet day in the garden, just him, the wind, and Kuzan in a hammock.Written for One Piece Admirals Week 2020.
Relationships: Akainu | Sakazuki/Aokiji | Kuzan
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19
Collections: One Piece Admirals Week 2020





	A Quiet Day in Spring

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 7 of One Piece Admirals Week 2020, prompt: Soft.

The air was warm, light from the afternoon sun casting his garden in myriad shades of green. A good spring day, the first in quite some time. Sakazuki was glad it coincided with his day off. He’d been on duty for months in the New World, and then for the last few weeks since being re-stationed on Marineford, he’d hardly had a break. While he was more than ready to do his sworn duty, even he needed a day off on occasion.

The community garden shared by Barracks A1 was empty, as it nearly always was. The only other people besides himself that he’d ever seen here were a few trainee Navy cooks. He glanced over towards the corner at a rather sad looking zucchini plant. It looked like they hadn’t been here in a while either. He made a note to himself to water the zucchini as well.

The garden was simple, a path in the middle that wove around the plots and planter boxes. Most of them were empty of any plants of worth, and had grown over with weeds, but a few (his few) had begonias, geraniums, and chrysanthemums. They needed pruning and neatening. There was a patch of empty grass in the middle of the courtyard, and in the corner, beneath a tree was a hammock, and next to that, a small sad man-made pond. 

Sakazuki had taken it upon himself to clean up the green space today. He was lucky to have returned when he had. The elderly gardener on staff for this cluster of buildings had apparently retired and had yet to be replaced, so there was lots to do. The soil in the planter boxes needed to be reinvigorated, the weeds and dead plants removed, and seeds planted. He was saving dealing with the pond for last. Sakazuki leaned back on his knees, glancing at the work he’d put in already. A few separate pots filled with new soil, seeds sprinkled within them. He stretched his arms over his head, glad he’d finished de-weeding the planter he was claiming next. 

The sun was warm on his bare skin, not too uncomfortable yet, but too warm for him to wear a jacket. The rain over the past few days had been good for the plants, weeds or not. He took in a deep breath, absorbing the scent of the soil and got to his feet, moving to the next plot, and beginning the process over. Rip out the weeds, mix up the soil, soak it with water, plant seedlings. 

It was calm, quiet, easy-to-follow work. In a few weeks, the plants will take to the soil, some beginning the early process of flowering, others needing more coaxing, better soil, or protection from the squirrels he knew would come and bother them. 

It was grounding. While at sea, the world was always moving, quick decisions with deadly consequences made on the daily. His world revolved around the smell of gunpowder, the sound of steel clashing, the roar of the wind, the heaving of the waves, and always, always colored by the deep red of blood.

Not like this little space at all with its greenery and damp earth. Nor was it like the world of concrete and patrols, paperwork and politics that plagued the spaces he resided in when not at sea. No, here, there was only the natural order of things, here was where the order of humanity and the chaos of nature met and created something beautiful. 

He smiled gently as he placed a young blue petunia into its new home. The sound of footsteps approaching made him stop. They weren’t loud, nor hurried, an evenness to each step, an almost laziness to them. He knew those steps.

He tilted his head up, looking towards the entrance of the garden as a man stepped through the gate. He was wearing the standard white of their Navy uniform, but his shirt was open, a dark blue v-neck tank top underneath it, and dark pants. 

Kuzan.

Their eyes met, his with surprise, Kuzan’s with that laidback stare he always wore. Sakazuki made to get to his feet but Kuzan waved him off and instead of coming over to him, made his way to the hammock under the tree. “Don’t let me get in your way,” he said simply as he nearly flopped into the precarious web of rope.

Kuzan settled, swinging slightly, placing his arms behind his head.

The garden resumed its quiet atmosphere once more. Sakazuki’s eyes roamed Kuzan’s form. His hair was a little longer since the last time he’d seen him, and his skin had gotten darker from his time at sea. “When did you get back?” he asked, resuming his task. He had a few more petunias to plant before he could take a break. 

“Technically, I haven’t gotten back yet,” Kuzan murmured. 

Sakazuki raised an eyebrow, “You shouldn’t leave the ship before it initiates docking protocols.” 

“Yeah, but I wanted to get here before nightfall, so…” Kuzan shrugged, the motion making the hammock sway, the slight creaking of it loud in the peacefulness. 

Carefully, Sakazuki placed the next petunia into its newly dug hole, filling in the soil around its base. “Why?” he asked. He could feel Kuzan’s lazy gaze on his back. 

“Because I wanted to see you.” 

He froze for a moment, before beginning to dig the next hole. “How did you know I’d be here?” he asked. 

“You weren’t on the roster for handling offboarding,” Kuzan stated simply. Sakazuki grunted. 

He refocused on his work, Kuzan swayed slowly in the hammock. It was simple, easy, the roles they fell into when they weren’t bombarded by the real world. “Garden got a little crazy while you were on duty huh?” Kuzan called out to him after a little while. 

"Gardener retired," Sakazuki stated. He was almost done. 

"Good thing you got picked for base rotation," Kuzan was looking at him again. He shrugged. He'd go where he was sent. "...Think I'll be getting placed on Base Rotation too," he added almost as an afterthought, but there was a note of hopefulness in his tone. That made Sakazuki stop for a moment. They hadn't been on Base Rotation together for a long time. 

Too long.

They lapsed into quiet once more, Kuzan dozing off, Sakazuki finishing planting his petunias. Sweat ran down the back of his neck as he planted the last one. Good time to take a break. He stood and turned, before walking over to the hammock. It was in the shade now, the shadows from the tree branches above casting dappled shadows across Kuzan's face. He took him in for a moment, letting the sight fill him up, warm and soft. He moved carefully, trying not to sway the hammock too much. Kuzan's eyes opened and he made a space next to him, Sakazuki slipping in after a second of precarious swaying. 

He was warm against him, still smelling of the ocean and a slight hint of gunpowder. "It's good to see you," he whispered in Kuzan's ear, the words meant for him and him alone even in the emptiness of the garden. 

Kuzan smiled, turning to look at him. "You missed planting something," he stated. Sakazuki gave him a look of mild confusion. No he hadn't. He raised an eyebrow. Kuzan raised his hand and tapped his lips. "Your lips, right here." Sakazuki stared at him, and sighed, heavily. He could practically hear Kuzan's stupid grin. He shook his head, then grabbed the idiot's chin and pressed his lips against his. They moved against each other, slow and easy, saying hello, it's been too long, and I missed you without words. They separated slowly, and Kuzan gazed at him, warm surprise in his eyes. "I can't believe that work-" 

"Shut up," Sakazuki growled, leaning his head on Kuzan's chest. Their fingers interlaced as the hammock swayed gently in the breeze.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write Sakazuki/Kuzan soft for once instead of my usual wheelhouse of tragedy and despair for them. I had fun making a soft moment from Sakazuki's perspective. I feel like he might be more relaxed in his gardening, and even able to put up with Kuzan's atrocious attempts at flirting. This is my final piece for OP Admirals Week 2020. Big thanks to the folks on the server for all their help!
> 
> Let me know your thoughts!
> 
> As always, thank you for reading and you can find me on twitter @buggyisbest


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